Air traffic tower no place for a child

EPA/JUSTIN LANEA plane takes off from John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York.Some parents can take a child along to work if, say, school is closed for a snow day or the babysitter is sick. There’s even national "Take our Sons and Daughters to Work Day."

It can be a great experience for the kid to see what mom or dad does for a living and maybe even help out. If you work in a bakery, your child can help mix the dough; if you’re a teacher, maybe he or she can run your attendance sheet down to the office.

But some jobs are just not suited for bringing the tyke to the office. And air traffic controller is definitely one of them.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an incident last month where a small child’s voice came over the radio from the air traffic control center to pilots at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

It’s anyone’s guess what the controller was thinking when he allowed his child take over the microphone, or maybe he wasn’t thinking at all. It’s not the first such parental blunder: Last year, an MTA subway operator let her son have a go at the controls of a New York City train.

The boy’s instructions to pilots were correct, presumably prompted by dad, and the pilots sounded amused as they responded. But there’s nothing cute about letting a child talk to pilots preparing for takeoff at one of the nation’s busiest airports. There’s a good reason air traffic controllers are licensed and well trained — to ensure the safety of aircraft and everyone on them. Control towers are high-pressure places where any distraction could lead to catastrophe.

The FAA released a statement saying the employees involved in the incident are suspended from the control tower pending an investigation, adding: "This behavior is unacceptable."

You think? It’s also incredibly dangerous. The controller should never be back in the tower.